Please Help! Noise Induced!

[littleears]

Hi... Just looking for some help and a little perspective. I'm 24 years old and I'm a spin (indoor cycling) instructor. I used to teach classes twice a week and they were pretty loud but only 45 min. I taught a class in Dec. and then came home and hours later I had intense burst of tinnitus, hyperacusis, and ear fullness.

I thought it would subside so it took me a week to go to the ENT. He then prescribed me predisone and it went away completely but shortly returned. Its been over 4 months and the ringing has not gotten any lower.

I have been trying cranio-sacral therapy (twice) already and no change has occurred.

I am hopeful because the prednisone completely cured it so I'm thinking there must be a cure or it must fade. But I'm getting very discouraged and need some good feedback. Please help!

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum @littleears
It is important to continue to be hopeful and positive. Such attitude will help keep off the limbic nervous system which can cause you to function in fight or flight mode. Your T is very new so it may fade eventually. Keep up the good spirit. If it gets bothersome, you can consider some form of masking. Your T is relatively mild compared to others and it has been helped by prednisone before so keep that as a positive. I have had very loud high pitch T and severe hyperacusis. I was in a mess before but now I live a normal, happy and absolutely enjoyable life. If reading my success story helps, check the link below. Take good care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

[littleears]

Thank you @billie48 Your story is very comforting to me and I really appreciate it. I don't feel like my T is mild. I can hear it over everything and it's a loud high-pitch pure tone. The prednisone only gave me temporary relief when I was on it and it came back in full force once I weened off of it. So I wanted to know if anyone thought the tinnitus was an inflammation issue or if the noise made this tinnitus permanent?

Also, do you think I'm wasting my time/ money with cranio-sacral therapy and acupuncture?

 

[Apolonia]

I am going to the gym. And there is music playing all the time... I don't know whether I should be using earplugs or not with my condition. I don't consider it to be too loud but I am not sure anymore

 

[billie48]

I taught a class in Dec. and then came home and hours later I had intense burst of tinnitus, hyperacusis, and ear fullness.

I am sorry to assume you have a milder T as you have had breaks from it. But high pitched T from acoustic trauma is known to cause hyperacusis too. Is your ear fullness still happening? That is a sign that your ears are still not fully recovered from the acoustic trauma and may still be inflamed inside. Perhaps seek another ENT for 2nd opinion if the ear fullness is still happening.

 

[billie48]

I am going to the gym. And there is music playing all the time... I don't know whether I should be using earplugs or not with my condition. I don't consider it to be too loud but I am not sure anymore

If you have suffered acoustic trauma and your ears are still unstable with ear fullness or some degree of hyperacusis, then it is prudent to stay away from loud venues. Normal sounds shouldn't damage normal ears. If you feel you can take the gym noise without discomfort, it is not a bad way to let the ears get more hardened to hearing normal ambient sounds. That is how the ears can get over hyperacusis eventually. So use wisdom to protect when the noises are too loud but don't get paranoid with over-protection from daily ambient sounds of the environment you are in. Take care. God bless.

 

[littleears]

The ear fullness and hyperacusis has subsided but the tinnitus remains in full force. That's why I'm doing the cranio-sacral therapy but I have no idea if I'm wasting my time or if this will just be something that is cured in time so I should just leave it alone.